A Lavender Sprout
by InkConstellations
Summary: First year Lavender Brown takes a nighttime adventure to the Mirror of Erised. What does she see?


A Lavender Sprout

The bare skin of Lavender Brown's foot hit the marble floor, and she instantly curled her toes as if to block the cold from seeping through her skin. It was chilly out in the dark corridors, and Lavender's stomach did flips as she thought about sneaking out of Gryffindor Tower so late at night. Her left arm held the Fat Lady's portrait open, and she still had one foot on the common room floor. Should she take the plunge? She was sure to get in trouble if she was caught.

But then again, she was incredibly curious. Harry Potter – yes,_ the _Harry Potter_ – _had been acting strange all winter break. He had been moping and staring off into the distance. Ronald Weasley, Harry's freckled, red-headed friend, had been giving him worried glances and whispering, "No, don't visit that mirror again! It's – it's not healthy."

Lavender could only imagine what it meant, and she wanted to change that. She had spent her time following the boys, using her special skills at stealth, and eavesdropping on their conversations when she had the chance. It was easy to do so, as they were so fully engrossed in themselves and their own troubles - whatever those seemed to be. It was probably for the best that Hermione Granger had gone home to her family, otherwise her owl eyes would have been sure to notice what Lavender had been up to.

Finally, Lavender let her second foot fall to the cold marble and she briskly began to walk down the corridors. She was quiet as a mouse, making sure to stay against walls, hide behind corners, and then peek out. Fortunately, the full moon shone in through the tall seventh floor windows, and she managed to glide easily around the floor until she made it to the main staircase. She travelled down it, skipped over the trick step, and landed lightly on the sixth floor.

It was darker here, and Lavender, while brimming with nerves, also found herself getting too excited. She bit her lip to hide her smile, and then did a happy jig in her spot. She had to expel her emotions somehow, otherwise she'd never be able to get to this mysterious mirror and see what it would show her. She knew that Harry and Ron had seen some important things in it. Lavender had no idea what they were, but if it was enough to compel Harry to return to the mirror, it had to be great.

Lavender began to creep around the next few floors. Every step she took, she was sure Argus Filch or his creepy cat would pop out of a corner and scare her half to death. It was a long way to the fourth floor, and Lavender knew it might very well be impossible to get there without any problems.

Just as she made it halfway through the fifth floor, Lavender went ahead and looked around a corner. Her breath instantly caught in her throat, she pulled away from the corner, and she stifled a scream. She could feel tears welling in her eyes at the idea of her getting detention by Professor Snape, and she hopped in her spot momentarily. Her eyes glanced around and she bit her lip as she looked for a place to hide. The greasy, evil professor was swooping down the corridor, and with each oncoming step, Lavender felt herself melting into a pile of goo.

And that was when her instincts kicked in. She saw, just back down the corridor, a lone suit of armor. It was hidden in a fairly small alcove, but Lavender knew that it was the best chance she had at hiding from Snape. With that thought, she fled down the corridor and found herself in front of the suit of armor. She glanced around it quickly, and then realized that she was just small enough to hide in its stomach. She had no idea if she would be able to open it without making noise though. More importantly, would it even open?

But what happened before her eyes was more perfect than she could ever have dreamt. All on it's own and without a bit of fuss, the suit of armor's stomach opened up. It glided until it was a wide gaping hole, and while Lavender was excited, she felt a bit nervous. Was this safe? How did it do that?

And then the suit of armor spoke. Well, whispered.

"Quick! Get in!"

Lavender let out the slightest squeak, and then tried to quietly climb into the stomach. In actuality, it was much more like a tumble, and the metal of the armor – or was it the suit itself? – let out a groan and a grumble as she hit it. Before she had the chance to whisper a quick "sorry" to the suit of armor, she heard the swish of Snape's cloak around a corner as he quickly approached. She could tell by the pace of his padded steps that he had heard her hit the suit of armor, and stifled a whimper. Instead, she bit her lip, breathed in deeply through her nose, and tried her best to be as still as possible. She was curled up in a ball inside the suit of armor, thanking Merlin that she was small enough to fit in it without toppling it over. Although, Lavender had a suspicion that the suit of armor was employing a lot of magic to keep itself upright.

Snape was now outside of the suit of armor. She could tell by the way the shadows moved over the cracks of the armor, and Lavender hoped that he wouldn't open up the suit. He couldn't possibly think someone was inside it. He couldn't have any idea.

But before Lavender had time to worry any more, Snape began peering around the suit of armor. He touched the armor, knocked on it, and tried his best to see behind the suit. Lavender was fairly sure he knew that only a first year could hide behind it, and hoped that he would assume a first year wouldn't be rebellious enough to be out at night. Lavender knew this was a false hope though. Snape would do anything to catch a student out of bed, especially if it wasn't one of his own - even more especially if it was a Gryffindor.

Finally, Snape stepped back from the suit of armor, and stared at it. Lavender deeply anticipated his leaving. She imagined him walking away in a flurry of black shadows, and suppressed a shiver. He was incredibly frightening.

He didn't walk away. Lavender could feel the tears welling again, and tried her best to take a silent, shallow breath. She succeeded, but Snape was still there. What was she going to do?

And that was when he curled his fingers around the plate of the suit of armor's stomach and pulled. Lavender's eyes grew wide and she panicked. And then she realized that the suit wasn't opening for him. He couldn't get the suit to swing on its hinges like it had before, and Lavender almost breathed a sigh of relief. Snape tried the other side of the plate, but it didn't budge. He stood by the suit for two more seconds, and then moved on. He disappeared into the shadows of the corridor, and Lavender let her back slump against the back of the suit.

"Do you think the coast is clear?" The suit asked after a number of seconds.

Lavender turned her head to the side, questioning this strange phenomenon of a talking suit of armor, but then adjusted herself to get out of the suit. "I believe so," she whispered.

And with that, the suit creaked open.

"Oh – oh no! Sorry, I didn't mean to squeak," said the suit.

Lavender peered out of the suit and glanced down the corridor, waiting for Snape to come back towards the echoing sound. After a while of whistling wind, however, Lavender hopped out of the suit as best she could. "I think we're safe," she murmured.

"I'm so sorry about squeaking!" The suit said once again. "I was so good about not squeaking when I let you in."

Lavender faltered. Now that the coast was clear, she didn't know how to feel about a talking suit of armor. Yes, she knew this kind of thing could happen and that it shouldn't seem strange to her, but she had not expected to run into the one talking suit of armor in Hogwarts this late at night.

"Er…thank you, sir – fo-for hiding me. I'm very grateful," Lavender finally said.

Lavender couldn't be sure, but she almost thought she heard a smile. That was impossible, she knew, but she just felt it.

"Oh no problem! You looked like you were on an important mission. What are you doing out so late at night?" The suit's voice wasn't the least bit strange. It was as human as any other voice she had heard, but Lavender still couldn't help feeling surprised.

"I'm looking for a mirror," she responded. Without thinking, she continued, "So, you're a talking suit of armor."

The suit laughed. "Yes, I am. A wayward spell gone wrong."

"Oh." Lavender had no idea what kind of spell that could be.

"You said you were looking for a mirror?"

"Yes! I think there's a magical mirror somewhere on the Charms floor!" Lavender finally gave a smile to the suit of armor, although she had no idea if he could actually see it.

"I've heard whispers of something very magical being close by. You should be careful. You don't know how magic can affect you," the suit said. His tone suddenly became very serious, and Lavender felt her nerves spiking.

"What do you mean?" Lavender asked. She crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly realizing that she was very cold in her thin pajamas. "How can you hear whispers?"

"Humans aren't the only ones with a language. Buildings, people, animals, objects – they all talk. They all whisper and pass on messages. Magic has the ability to flow and settle on everything. If you have the right ear, you can listen to the magic and it'll tell you everything you need to know."

Lavender's started to speak, but then stopped. That sounded so new – she had never heard of anything like that before. But it made sense. Sometimes, when Lavender was alone in her dorm room, she thought she heard whistles and hums and clicks. It was as if magic was just in the air, was in everything, and was just trying to speak to her.

"O-okay. Thank you." Lavender didn't know what to say.

"You'd best run along, little one," the suit finally said.

Lavender turned to continue on her path, but then she stopped and turned back to the suit of armor. "My name is Lavender. Er…what's yours?"

A surge of happiness seemed to emanate from the suit of armor, and Lavender felt herself smiling.

"My name is Aeson. It was nice to meet you, Lavender."

"Yes! It was nice to meet you too, Aeson. Thank you for your help!"

And with those last words, Lavender fled down to the fourth floor. Her excitement had surged back into her now that she was safe. Her stomach was flipping and she was running so quickly that her feet didn't even make noise. She had something that the infamous Harry Potter and his sidekick Ron Weasley didn't have – an adventure where she met a talking suit of armor and it saved her from Snape's evil clutches! How many people could say that?

When Lavender got to the bottom of the fifth staircase, she made sure to tread carefully. She wasn't exactly sure, but it had to be one of these many empty classrooms. She opened each door slowly, wincing whenever one squeaked or rumbled, and glanced in quickly before moving onto the next one. When she reached the fourth door, Lavender found it.

It looked like it had once been a beautiful golden mirror, but it was now quite dusty. Lavender walked up to it, and gasped in surprise. What she saw of herself was unbelievable. She was absolutely gorgeous. Her brown hair was long, silky, and beautiful, while her smile seemed to dazzle. At her side was good-looking man who had a mischievous glint in his eyes. They were both dressed in Auror outfits, while Lavender had a white glove over her wand hand. Somehow, she knew this wasn't the real her. Her old, childish pajamas were still on her body, and she knew she was alone in the room. The Lavender in front of her eyes was someone entirely different.

Lavender drank in the details of this image, noticing how tall the older Lavender stood. Her back was straight, and her shoulders were evenly spread. Her reflection, as if noticing little, weak Lavender for the first time, let her smile fall into a straight, pursed line. This older Lavender had seen unimaginable things. She had fought through them all, and in the end, she had contributed something good to the world. She had power, and she had used it for good.

It was so entrancing, and Lavender didn't really know why. This different version of Lavender just had something that she didn't. Was it confidence? Was it the man? Was it beauty? Was it strength? Really, it had to be everything. She never felt that confident – she certainly pretended, but most days she just acted silly and girly. All the older girls here at Hogwarts had knowledge and maturity.

Then, there was the man. Lavender knew he was more than her Auror partner –she could tell by the rings they sported. She wanted someone to love her enough to marry her, but deep inside she felt that nagging suspicion that no one would ever want her like that. But there – that beauty this other Lavender had. That was what caught his eye. This reflection would have caught the eyes of all who looked her way, and it would just prove that she was good enough to be wanted and cared for. This other Lavender wasn't _just_ a pretty girl, however. She had strength and power - she could hold her own in battle and she didn't need to be saved by anyone! That might have been the most appealing quality, but really, everything this image had was what she wanted. How could she every leave?

It took hours for Lavender to pull away from the mirror. When she turned her back on it, she felt as if eyes were boring into her, hands were pulling at her clothes, voices were screaming at her to turn around once more. She reached the classroom door, but did not leave. Her hand was on the cool, bronze doorknob, and she could hear the mirror whisper and hum, as if pleading her to come back again.

But Aeson, the suit of armor, echoed in her head, "You don't know how magic can affect you."

The image she had seen was magical – so powerful! - and it was what she wanted, but this was the first and last time she would look at that reflection. She had to become that woman, not wait around and watch her.

Lavender exited the room, slamming the heavy classroom door behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN –** This is much different than what I usually write. I never seem to like stories that have action in them, and prefer to look at character development more deeply. Do you think that I wrote a believable, more dimensional, Lavender? Do you think the image Lavender saw in the mirror was an accurate reflection of what the canon Lavender Brown would see? Also, what do you think the title means? Leave a review telling me your thoughts and ideas; I'd appreciate it a lot!


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